The Killing Fields deals with subjects that guarantee it depth and emotion. When you deal with an issue such as Cambodian death camps and re-education programs, you would have to be the most insensitive, incapable filmmaker to not draw some emotional involvement out of the audience. But this film never quite realizes it's potential as its plot and characters are too bare.
The story revolves around the relationship between a New York Times reporter and his Cambodian assistant. Because they want to get a story this noble Cambodian, played perfectly by Hyaig Nygor, is left behind when the situation demands that all reporters leave the country. The reporter, played almost adequately by Sam Waterson, is left feeling guilty, we think, but the whole thing is touched on too little. An interesting character in a photographer (John Malkovitch) comes back to remind him of his guilt. But the character of the reporter is too unsympathetic for us to relate to his feelings and we wonder how he ever got so attached to his Cambodian assistant, who he yelled at frequently when they worked together. Malkovitch is on-screen way too little. The story of Hyaig Nygor's character is much more interesting and involving. Though it's not quite enough to make us care about the undefined relationship between these two men.
It leaves us unable to make any emotional investment in the movie and results in the lack of payoff for the conclusion. If you want a movie that does draw an emotional response from its audience, try The Mission, Roland Joffe's next product after The Killing Fields. It is a far superior, and underrated film.
Newsman Sydney Schanberg loses his friend Dith Pran in the 1975 fall of Phnom Penh. Directed by Roland Joffe. Best supporting Oscar for Ngor.More at HotMovieSale.com
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